The Interesting Link Between Body Modification And Body Image

It wasn’t too long ago when body modification was solely linked to what some people within our communities saw as unsavoury characters (Bradley University). Now everyone and your mum have tattoos and enough metal in their body to get some funny looks at airport security. But what isn’t talked about that often is the link between body modification and body image, so that’s what I plan to do today with this article.

 

 

What Is Body Modification?

 

A quick and easy definition of body modification comes from Dictionary.com, which defines it as being any method that results in permanent changes to a person’s body, such as a piercing, a tattoo, or implants for the purpose of personal expression and aesthetics. This form of body modification is done for the enhancement of physical attractiveness and is evident in many cultures throughout history (Wohlrab, Fink, Kappeler, and Brewer, 2009). In case you were wondering, body modification does include cosmetic surgery.

 

The Britannica also makes a case for semi-permanent changes to a person’s body also being included in body modification, which would mean make-up would count as well. But for the purpose of this article, I’m going to focus on the permanent side of body modification, otherwise, you could include things like high heels and tanning (Bradley University).

 

 

What Do I Mean By Body Image?

 

This definition comes courtesy of the National Eating Disorders Collaboration in Australia. They define body image as being a combination of thoughts and feelings a person has about their body, which can be influenced by external and internal factors. They also state that someone can change between having a positive to a negative body image, and vice versa, at different times. Hopefully, that doesn’t come as a shock to anyone.

 

Body Modification And Body Image

 

Not everyone will go through body modification because they have a poor body image, but enough people will for that reason, and I think that needs to be talked about. For the most part, body modification is perfectly fine, but there will be some people who are so unhappy with their body image that it’ll never be enough. Such body image issues are akin to what can lead to an eating disorder.

 

A study by Stitz and Pierce Jr (2013) found that stressful life events could lead to people becoming dissatisfied with their body image, leading to motivations to make a change in their appearance. Their study found that people who experienced more personally meaningful stressful life events within a two-year period made changes to their appearance, or at least considered it. And now that I’ve read this article, I realise that’s something I do. It also sounds like this might be a phoenix moment, whereby someone wants to distance themselves from who they were, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

 

A case report by Affleck, Wray, and Chouliara (2015) was conducted on several participants with naevus dysmorphia. Naevus dysmorphia is a form of body image dissatisfaction (body dysmorphic disorder; BDD). One of these participants was a 24-year-old male who sought help from their GP to have all their moles removed. This participant would prefer to have scars all over their body rather than having to live with their moles because they were so anxious about people seeing them.

 

While being examined, several large tattoos were discovered. The participant disclosed that they had these large tattoos to help distract attention away from the moles they hate so much.

 

This, surprisingly, is supported by an article by GQ (Sanneh, 2020) on Post Malone, who has said they get tattoos because he feels ugly. The rapper is often been known to call themselves an “ugly-ass motherfucker”, suggesting that tattoos like his face tattoos are a defensive strategy. Post Malone freely admits that this comes from a place of insecurity about how he looks.

 

 

Further support for this comes from Craythorne, Shaw, and Larkin (2020), who conducted a study on understanding people’s body art (i.e. tattoos). One of the participants in the study wanted to have some control over their BDD by having a say over their appearance. Whereas, before this, the participant felt suffocated by their BDD. Being able to creatively modify their appearance gave them back their control over their body. This was achieved by designing their own tattoos.

 

For the semi-permanent that the Britannica mentioned, this participant also got a similar feeling from how they wore their make-up to adjust their appearance. They reported this also helped with their confidence.

 

I also found an interesting blog post by a former blogger going by the name of Octopink, where they talk about their BDD. They talked about how puberty left them with stretch marks (as was the case with me as well). They report that their body modification helps distract them from their naked skin, helping them to self-soothe and avoid self-harming.

 

Another participant in Affleck, Wray, and Chouliara‘s (2015) study, this time an 18-year-old male, engaged in avoidance behaviours because of the moles on their back. This person was also a bodybuilder and developed stretch marks as a result of that. This participant also had tattoos, which they said they got to help distract themself and others’ attention away from their moles.

 

 

Summary

 

Not everyone will be going through body modification, such as getting tattoos and piercings because they’re unhappy with their body in some way. But there will be some who do. Just like those who go through cosmetic surgery to help them like their body, which is still body modification.

 

I have a companion article that covers my experience with body modification on my member’s site, which you can find by clicking here.

 

As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, please share your experiences with body modification, such as why you got a tattoo, in the comments section below. Don’t forget, if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, you can sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, click the red bell icon in the bottom right corner to get push notifications for new articles.

 

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References

 

Affleck, A., Wray, E., & Chouliara, Z. (2015). Identifying and managing naevus dysmorphia in clinical practice. World Journal of Dermatology, 4(2), 114-119. Retrieved from https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/en/publications/identifying-and-managing-naevus-dysmorphia-in-clinical-practice and https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/ws/files/15285028/Chouliara_IdentifyingAndManagingNaevus_Published_2015.pdf.

Craythorne, S. L., Shaw, R., & Larkin, M. (2020). Using artwork and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore the experience of coping with body dysmorphic disorder. Qualitative Methods in Psychology Bulletin, (30). Retrieved from https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/42434/1/PDF_VER_Craythorne_Shaw_Larkin_2020_PrePublication.pdf.

Sanneh, K. (2020, March). How Post Malone Became Pop’s King of Heartbreak. GQ. Retrieved from https://www.gq.com/story/post-malone-cover-2020.

Stitz, M. E., & Pierce Jr, J. D. (2013). Changes in appearance in the presence of major stress events. Sage Open, 3(2), 2158244013485093. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013485093, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244013485093, and https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244013485093.

Wohlrab, S., Fink, B., Kappeler, P. M., & Brewer, G. (2009). Perception of human body modification. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(2), 202-206. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886908003681.